Elijah Cummings

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. I want to thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise to support the amendment offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Nye). It's an outstanding amendment. This amendment states that none of the provisions relating to marine safety included in H.R. 3619 would impair the authority of the Coast Guard to carry out its homeland security missions. I support the amendment and its intention, and I urge its adoption. That said, the Transportation Committee and the Coast Guard Subcommittee have examined the Coast Guard's performance of its marine safety mission in great detail and have significant concerns that the service has assigned inexperienced and unqualified individuals to conduct casualty investigations, vessel inspections, and other marine- safety functions. The shortcomings in the program have been well documented by the Homeland Security's inspector general, by retired Coast Guard Vice Admiral James C. Card, and by the committee's own examination of the Cosco Busan allision in San Francisco. And so certainly the provisions of this amendment will be extremely helpful in helping us again help the Coast Guard be most effective and efficient in its efforts, and it can only improve the bill and improve an already great organization, the United States Coast Guard, our thin blue line at sea.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Thank you, Mr. Oberstar, for your comments. Thank you for yielding. I agree with you. We've already done basically what the gentleman wants done. And I just want to add something, Mr. Oberstar, and that is that this has been something that our subcommittee has-- this fishing problem, and safety is something that we've taken extremely seriously. The Bureau of Labor Statistics names commercial fishing as the most hazardous occupation in the United States. For the 11-year period from 1994 through 2004, 641 fishermen and -women lost their lives on fishing vessels, and so we take it very seriously. I also want to thank the gentleman for constantly making sure that we do what you're hoping that we would do. We did it. Congratulations. And so, therefore, I support the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Once again, I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for laying that out. And I thank the gentleman for his vigilance with regard to these types of issues. Similar to the previous amendment offered by Mr. Flake, which prohibits earmarking of the grants to be awarded under the Fishing and Safety Training Grant program, this amendment would prohibit earmarking of the grants authorized by H.R. 3619. The Fishing Safety Research grant is a complement of the Fishing Safety Training program. The research grant program would provide funding to individuals in academia, members of nonprofit organizations and businesses involved in fishing and other maritime matters and other persons with expertise in the fishing industry to support research to identify measures that will improve safety in this industry. And of course these would be bid on a competitive basis. But the one thing I did want to say, and I know that the chairman of the committee will agree with me, I must give a lot of credit to Congressman Barney Frank, who worked tirelessly on these issues. And I know I've had at least 10 to 12 conversations with him. I know he's met with the chairman, and I just wanted to make sure that we gave him credit because he has championed this like nobody I've ever known, and I just wanted to say that.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition, although I am not opposed.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the amendment offered by the ranking member of the subcommittee, Mr. LoBiondo, and Mr. Michaud of Maine. This amendment would require the Coast Guard, together with the Department of Transportation along with other appropriate Federal agencies, to study whether we need a national navigational system to supplement and to serve as a backup to the Global Positioning System known as GPS. In August of 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation commissioned a study to assess whether a backup to GPS was needed. The study, conducted by the Institute for Defense Analyses, argued that a backup was needed because GPS is vulnerable to local interference and even intentional jamming. The amendment offered by Mr. LoBiondo and Mr. Michaud is a thoughtful amendment intended to ensure that we continue to deepen our understanding of our Nation's need for backup navigation aid systems in the event that the GPS is taken offline for some reason. I support the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I rise today in strong support of the amendment offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, and Mr. Coble, a distinguished member of the subcommittee and a former member of the United States Coast Guard. This amendment would require the Coast Guard to conduct a study of its family housing units, including requiring the development of a comprehensive inventory of such units and their physical condition. The study should also recommend legislative changes that could expand the availability of housing units. The state of the housing stock at some Coast Guard units is, frankly, appalling, and this is certainly the quality of life issue which is most often raised to the subcommittee by the Coast Guard members and their dependents. I want to thank Mr. LoBiondo for his concern about it. We have talked about it many times. It is one of my major conditions and that of our subcommittee. The amendment offered by the gentleman would help us begin to understand the true extent of the Coast Guard's need for family housing, as well as the steps that we could take to ensure that the need is met and given the budget scoring issues that seem to be impeding the development of new housing. This amendment would also support several other quality of life initiatives and authorize the Coast Guard to award a Coast Guard Cross and the Silver Star Medal in recognition of heroic actions in service to our Nation. These are all initiatives that I strongly support, and I applaud the leadership of our ranking member, Mr. LoBiondo, and Mr. Coble. Let me also say that it's one thing for us to want our Coast Guard's men and women to go out and do a good job, but at the same time we must be concerned about their housing. Where they live, where they raise their children, where they take care of their families is so very, very important. While we talk about thin blue line and how much we honor them and applaud them, if we say that in one breath and then the next breath do not do the things like this to help them live the very best lives that they can, that's something that's simply awfully wrong with the picture. I applaud my colleague, and I urge adoption of the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Chair, as chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, I rise today in strong support of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010, H.R. 3619. I applaud Chairman Oberstar for his diligent work on this legislation, his detailed oversight of the Coast Guard, including his focus on ensuring that the service remains prepared to carry out all of its traditional missions, and for his leadership on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. I also thank Congressman Mica, the ranking member of the full committee, and Congressman LoBiondo, the ranking member of the subcommittee, for their work on this legislation. I certainly thank Chairman Bennie Thompson and Ranking Member Peter King from the Homeland Security Committee for working so closely with us to move this very important legislation to the floor today. This comprehensive legislation would authorize approximately $10 billion to fund the Coast Guard's operations for fiscal year 2010. The legislation would also increase the level of military personnel authorized to be in the service by 1,500 servicemembers to 47,000 personnel. I have long said that the Coast Guard is our thin blue line at sea, and that thin blue line is now stretched as never before, as Mr. Oberstar has said, as it attempts to carry out its traditional missions while performing new Homeland Security responsibilities it assumed after 9/11. The increase in the service's end strength that will be provided by the bill would be a first step in what must be the continued growth that will finally make the Coast Guard's size equal to the demands our Nation makes of it. By incorporating a number of bills that have passed the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in some cases the full House, this legislation will also address the most pressing issues facing our Coast Guard and our Nation's merchant mariners. For example, this legislation incorporates H.R. 1665, the Coast Guard Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, which passed the House on July 29 by a vote of 426-0. I offered that legislation to modernize the Coast Guard's management of its billion-dollar annual acquisition program. This legislation responds directly to the shortcomings the committee and subcommittee examined in the Coast Guard's implementation of several Deepwater procurements by requiring the appointment of a Chief Acquisition Officer who can be a senior military officer or a member of the senior executive service, but who must be a trained acquisition professional. The legislation would also eliminate the use of private sector lead systems integrators and require the Coast Guard to develop tailored testing and evaluation programs and independent life-cycle cost estimates for its largest procurements. H.R. 3619 also includes the Maritime Workforce Development Act, H.R. 2651, which would authorize the appropriation of $10 million in each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015 to fund loans to help mariners in all stages of their careers obtain the training and certifications they need to move ahead. In addition, H.R. 3619 would authorize a reorganization of the Coast Guard's senior leadership as proposed by the Commandant, Admiral Thad Allen; would make marine safety a core mission of the Coast Guard, and would require that those appointed to marine safety positions have the training necessary to effectively carry out this mission. H.R. 3619 would also create a process through which Members of Congress could nominate students to attend the United States Coast Guard Academy as is done it all other Federal service academies. Data provided by the Coast Guard show that only approximately 15 percent of the incoming class of 2013 at the Coast Guard Academy was comprised of minority students. By comparison, the Naval Academy's class of 2013 was the most diverse class in that institution's history, with 35 percent of the incoming class of midshipmen being minorities. I strongly believe that initiating a nomination process will enable the Members of Congress to support and fully engage in the Coast Guard's ongoing efforts to expand diversity at the Academy and help ensure that the service's officer corps and future leaders truly reflect the diversity of our great Nation. H.R. 3619 will provide a long overdue authorization for the Coast Guard and address the pressing issues that the committee and the subcommittee have examined through extensive oversight efforts during the past 3 years. I strongly urge adoption of this legislation.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Chair, I rise today in strong support of the manager's amendment. I again commend Chairman Oberstar for his work on this legislation and for his dedication to effectively overseeing the Coast Guard and the entire marine transportation system. I also take this opportunity to thank the chairman for the support he has given me as a subcommittee Chair and throughout my membership on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The amendment offered by the chairman covers a number of subjects, and in the interest of time, I will note just a few of these: This amendment would require that State and local law enforcement engaged in enforcing Coast Guard-imposed security zones around certain dangerous materials have the training, resources, personnel and experience they need to carry out the security responsibilities they have been engaged to perform. Further, the amendment would require the Coast Guard to report annually on the resource deficiencies they have pertaining to the enforcement of security zones around hazardous material shipments. These provisions are not directed at any single material or terminal, but rather, they are intended to ensure that the most dangerous materials transported on the water are moved safely and that chemicals which could put entire communities at risk are secured against the threats which we know exist. The manager's amendment would also address a number of other issues, including requiring an assessment of technologies that can combat the small-boat security threat, modifying several statutes governing the issuance of TWIC cards and addressing a critical licensing issue on Lake Texoma. In the interest of time, I will end my statement here by urging the adoption of the manager's amendment and by, again, commending the work of the Chair.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I rise in strong support of the amendment offered by Mr. Hastings. This amendment will require the Coast Guard to study its ability to respond to the possible effects of a change in U.S. policy regarding immigration from Haiti. While I agree with Mr. Hastings that it is past time for the U.S. to review our immigration policies towards Haiti, particularly as that Nation continues to suffer in the wake of the ongoing worldwide economic downturn and recurring natural disasters, we need to understand the full range of consequences that such a policy change might bring. The study requested by the gentleman's amendment will ensure that we have a thorough analysis of current conditions, as well as an analysis of past experiences to inform our consideration of immigration policy towards Haiti, as well as the development of the Coast Guard's plans and missions in the event that a policy change is made. I support the gentleman's thoughtful amendment and his leadership on the issue and urge the adoption of the amendment.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. I thank Ms. Matsui for yielding to me. I rise in strong support of House Resolution 853, which would provide a structured rule to allow for consideration of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010, H.R. 3619. I thank Mr. Oberstar and certainly Mr. Mica, and I thank Mr. LoBiondo for his bipartisan efforts. Clearly, the bill is a work of just phenomenal bipartisanship. H.R. 3619 is legislation that would provide an authorization for the United States Coast Guard, the fifth branch of our Armed Forces. I note that, unlike the Department of Defense services, the Coast Guard has not been authorized since 2006. This legislation increases the authorized funding level for the service, as well as the number of military personnel allowed to be in the service. The legislation also addresses a number of other Coast Guard and maritime-related issues that have been considered by the Coast Guard Subcommittee and the full Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure over the past 3 years, including acquisition reform, fishing industry safety and implementation of the Coast Guard's marine safety program. H.R. 3619 also includes the text of H.R. 3360, the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009, which was ordered reported by the Transportation Committee on July 30, 2009, and which would institute a number of new safety measures intended to assure that cruise vessels carrying passengers to and from the United States are as safe as possible. Specifically, this legislation would include standards for the design and equipping of cruise vessel staterooms and cabins. It would require ships to employ trained medical personnel who can adequately treat the victims of sexual assault. The legislation would also make available on the Internet information on the number of crimes reported on each cruise line. H.R. 3360 was offered by Congresswoman Matsui, and I applaud her for her diligent and very hard work on this legislation. I also commend the victims of incidents on cruise ships, several of whom I know are watching today, including Laurie Dishman, who is here with us now. All of them testified before our subcommittee and helped inform the development of this legislation. Adoption of H. Res. 853 would also make in order for consideration the manager's amendment offered by the chairman of the full Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Congressman Jim Oberstar, as well as 12 other amendments. I urge the adoption of H. Res. 853 so that we can move to provide a long overdue authorization for the Coast Guard, our thin blue line at sea.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 2651.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2651) to amend title 46, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a maritime career training loan program, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, I rise today in strong support of the Maritime Work Force Development Act, H.R. 2651, legislation which I authored to address the education and training needs of our Nation's merchant mariners. I thank Congressman Oberstar, the chairman of the full committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Congressman Mica, the ranking member on the full committee, and Congressman LoBiondo, the ranking member of the Coast Guard Subcommittee, for working with me to support our maritime work force. H.R. 2651 would amend title 46 of the United States Codes to direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a student loan program to attract the next generation of workers to the good paying jobs available in the maritime industry. The loan program will also help those already in the industry obtain the certifications and the training they need to move ahead in their careers. In October of 2007, I convened a hearing in the Coast Guard Subcommittee to examine trends in the maritime workforce. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2006, there were more than 38,000 on-the-water jobs in sea, coastal, and Great Lakes transportation, and nearly 23,000 jobs in the inland water transportation industry. Many of those who currently work in the industry are nearing retirement age. Thus, the Maritime Administration has indicated that at the time of our hearing, the average age of a mariner with a master's license was 51, while the average age of a chief engineer was 50. Additionally, significant new standards for training and continuing education have been applied to mariners through the 1995 amendments to the Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping. These standards have rightly been set to improve safety in the maritime industry by reducing human factors as the causes of maritime accidents, but they have also imposed expensive and very time- consuming training requirements on mariners, particularly on those who are looking to upgrade a document or license to move up the career ladder. While there are many facilities in the United States that provide outstanding training programs for those seeking to enter or advance in the maritime field, tuition can be extremely expensive. Further, the types of training programs in which mariners enroll are unique and are not easily served by existing loan programs. Mariners who have already begun their careers rarely enroll in 2- or 4-year educational programs. Instead, typically, they enroll in multiweek courses to obtain a specific new certification, and they enroll in such courses several times a year. I drafted H.R. 2651 in an effort to provide to individuals in the maritime industry a loan program that is tailored to their specific needs and to the types of training programs that serve them. Using the model of existing student loan programs, H.R. 2651 creates a maritime- focused student loan program through which individuals can receive up to $60,000 in loans over the course of a lifetime. H.R. 2651 also authorizes the appropriation of $10 million in each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015 to support these loans. Additionally, H.R. 2651 authorizes the appropriation of $10 million in each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015 to enable the Department of Transportation to award grants to maritime training institutions to support their efforts to develop and implement programs to address mariner recruitment, training, and retention issues. In my district in Baltimore, I have been working closely with the Maritime Industries Academy, a public high school with a maritime theme. I have assembled a board of maritime and education professionals who have worked in an advisory capacity with the school for 2 years and who are now creating a formal foundation to support the school, which opened this current 2009-2010 school year in a new location and with an enrollment level that has tripled in the last 2 years. The grant program that is authorized by H.R. 2651 would support the growing number of maritime-themed educational institutions, including high schools, throughout the country as they work to expand maritime education opportunities and attract new individuals to a field critical to the success of our national economy. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank Chairman Oberstar, Ranking Member Mica, Ranking Member LoBiondo, and all of our subcommittee for their hard work on H.R. 2651 and urge the adoption of this legislation by the House today. And with that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I'm sitting here and I'm amazed what I just heard. We spend phenomenal amounts of money on so many things, and we are talking about many young people simply trying to have an opportunity to be all that God meant for them to be. We've got a situation where we have an industry that is growing, and the question that has arisen many times is whether we are, as a country, being innovative. Are we preparing our people for the opportunities that come forth or are we sitting back and allowing them to get to a certain point, and then when they try to enter the doors that will allow them to rise up to go into the fields that they want to go into, then we say, ``Sorry. Too bad. All the money is gone''? There's something absolutely incredibly wrong with that picture. It's very easy to come down and say, oh, the mariners don't need this money, when, in fact, the costs of the mariner's education has gone up tremendously. It is very easy to say that we don't need this when the age of our folks who are in the industry is at 50 and we need to begin to bring in new people, and we are constantly talking about jobs in America and making sure that our people have the opportunities that they deserve. Something is wrong with the picture when their opportunity comes up and, the next thing you know, we take a hike on them. One of the things I will say is that this industry is growing. We've had a little bit of a slowdown here recently because of the economic situation, but anybody who knows anything about the maritime industry knows that after this economic situation is over, we will be increasing at a very rapid pace and to a very large extent. And so while I respect the gentlelady for her comments, what I will say is that this is money that is needed, and it is money that--as I have often said, our children are the living messages that we send to a future we will never see. The question is what kind of message do we send to the future if our children are unprepared, if they are unprepared to take on the responsibilities that lie in front of them? Must we always go overseas to get people to come to do these jobs? We are trying to educate our own, and that is what this is all about. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, and I would assume that the gentleman would have a closing statement. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Resolution. Congressman Wilson's outburst was a clear violation of the House rules. How will we serve as a model of democracy--around the globe, and to our children here at home--if we cannot be the change we seek? That said-- we must focus on the most important issue at hand. That issue is not the insulting, disrespectful and inappropriate remarks of a single Congressman. It is the lack of hope for 18,000 people in this nation who die each year for one reason: They lack health insurance. It is the future faced by my neighbor who chooses between paying for his chemotherapy or paying for his groceries. The debate over Congressman Wilson's disgraceful remarks does not help one child in Baltimore get treatment for diabetes. It does not help one senior citizen in Columbia, Maryland, pay for the prescription drugs that Medicare Part D left behind. This episode has not stopped working, insured Americans from lying awake at night, frightened beyond belief because in the blink of an eye, both their job and insurance could disappear. Our children are too precious. Our families are too important. Our nation is at too critical a crossroads for us to fall prey and be distracted from our goal. So, I rise in support of this Resolution, not because what Representative Wilson did was reprehensible--though it was--but because all 435 Members have to live by the rules of the House. I ask that my colleagues join me in support of this resolution and uphold the dignity of this great institution by voting yes. More importantly, I ask that as soon as we finish this matter, and we join together again, that we finally pass meaningful healthcare reform. Because nothing could be worse than one more American suffering or dying because they cannot afford the care they need to live.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 508, introduced by the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry) and urge its adoption by the House today. H. Res. 508 recognizes the contributions made to the United States by the general aviation industry. Current data indicate this industry contributes more than $150 billion to the United States economy and provides good paying jobs to nearly 1.3 million people in a range of professions. Approximately 300 U.S. communities have scheduled air service. For the remainder of our Nation's communities, general aviation provides the only option for the movement of persons or cargo by air. General aviation also provides specialized air services such as air ambulance and traffic patrol services to communities that do have scheduled air service. A recent study commissioned by the Maryland Aviation Administration found that in 2005 general aviation activities at the 34 general aviation commuter airports in Maryland supported nearly 7,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs. General aviation in Maryland also generated nearly $400 million in direct, indirect and induced consumption expenditures and personal income in my State. As a member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I support my colleague's resolution and agree that general aviation makes a significant contribution to the national economy because it fulfills transportation needs which cannot otherwise be met. I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, we have no other speakers, so we would reserve.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I would just urge my colleagues to vote for this very, very important resolution.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 508) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the general aviation industry should be recognized for its contributions to the United States.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I urge the Members of the House to vote for this very, very important bill. This is one that our committee and subcommittee have worked on for a long time. It is overdue, and it's an outstanding bipartisan effort.